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Gagan wrote:The Chinese are trying to place a wedge between Iran - India.The Iranians are playing along for the time being.

It is unusual for nations to try and play both sides, and extract the most from everyone.

Read the NYT article, Chinese projects are crisscrossing the whole country. Those are permanent and so is chini influence. They are central to OBOR and the Iranians are happy to be part of it because it offers connectivity to the world outside of US control. We can never offer anything close through a single project like Chahabar (which would probably be incorporated into OBOR in the long haul. Iran ain't gonna separate its infrastructure for our sake.)

And that's not counting Chini help in the Iranian nook and bm programs.

They don't have put a wedge between India and a terrorist sponsoring rogue state like Iran. The divide was always there.

Make no mistake. Iran is a pragmatic player to some extent behind all those idealism. OFcourse for any muslim state to be in bed with anti-islam Chinese, they need to be very pragmatic. IF there is idealogical divide between India and Iran, a bigger such divide exists between Iran and China.

China IS doing its best to sabotage Indian influence in Iran. Like Gagan said, Iran is playing along to extract most from both parties.

schinnas wrote:Make no mistake. Iran is a pragmatic player to some extent behind all those idealism. OFcourse for any muslim state to be in bed with anti-islam Chinese, they need to be very pragmatic. IF there is idealogical divide between India and Iran, a bigger such divide exists between Iran and China.

China IS doing its best to sabotage Indian influence in Iran. Like Gagan said, Iran is playing along to extract most from both parties.

The width of the divide between Iran and China is exactly the same as that between Pakistan and China. Pakistan ties itself to Cheen because of India, Iran ties itself to Cheen because of the United States.

The extent of our "influence" in Iran is we buy some of their oil. That's it. We have little influence over a rogue state like Iran when we can't help with their nuke program.

Stop treating this terrorist sponsoring muslim nation like it has any affinity for India. It doesn't.

New Delhi. Aug. 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has picked transport minister Nitin Gadkari to represent India at the inauguration of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's second term tomorrow, trying to signal commitment to a critical port deal they had inked last year amid fresh irritants.

Gadkari was influential in the final stages of negotiations over multiple berths at the strategically located Chabahar Port on the Gulf of Oman that India has promised to build and operate for the next decade, and Iranian officials are known to respect him.

NYtimes article suggesting that Iran working hand in hand with TSP/Taliban to destabilise Afghan gov and ANA. Even managed to secure Russian arms for this purpose.Also mentions Iranian special ops killed in battles with ANA.

Once operational, Chabahar port will be gateway to golden opportunities: Gadkari

NEW DELHI: Keen on rolling out infrastructure projects in Iran and Afghanistan, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that once Chabahar Port in Iran becomes operational, there will be no looking back as it will be a gateway to golden opportunities.As a special envoy of India, deputed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Road Transport and Shipping Minister Gadkari is in Tehran and represented India at the oath taking ceremony of President Hassan Rouhani for the second term.

TEHRAN, IRAN: Chanting "Death to America," Iran's parliament voted unanimously Sunday to increase spending on its ballistic missile program and the foreign operations of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, part of a sanctions bill mirroring a new U.S. law targeting the country.

While offering hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding, the lawmakers' bill offered a tactic as old as the slogan shouted since the 1979 Islamic Revolution _ using America's own tactics against it.

The vote salves public anger in Iran over U.S. President Donald Trump's constant threats to renegotiate or abandon the nuclear deal struck by world powers under his predecessor. While lawmakers stressed the bill wouldn't violate that agreement, it ensures those both home and abroad know Iran will continue confronting America either in the Persian Gulf or legislatively, analysts say.

No military official in the world thought that we can go around Africa to the Atlantic Ocean through the Suez Canal, but we did it as we had declared that we would go to the Atlantic and its western waters,” the admiral said at a ceremony in Tehran, as quoted in Iranian media.

Sayyari said that in a “recent program on CNN,” US officials had tried to portray the Iranian Navy as weak and unable to operate over large distances.

“[In a program aired] on CNN, they [the Americans] drew a line from Bandar Abbas [an Iranian seaport] to the Atlantic and said Iran is by no means is capable of entering the ocean and passing through it,” he added. “But we arrived in the Atlantic, and we will go to the west of the ocean in the near future.”[Iran and NK both are speaking too much recently .. Either they have severe delusion about their capabilities or they are too confident that US will not attack them..]

Having been defeated in Syria-unable to oust Assad despite the backing of the Sunni coalition,ISIS and co., thanks to Russia in the main and Iran,who also engineered the defection of the Sultan of Turkey(!), The US and its Saudi wants to wreak vengeance against the weakest of its enemies,read Iran,which at the moment unlike NoKo does not possess N-weapons,but is on the cusp of that capability.Destabilising Iran is the next big thing on the Yanqui agenda as Shiite Iraq,a resurgent Syria and a weakened Saudi Arabia licking its wounds,both physical and economical over its misadventure in the Yemen,is allowing the balance of power in the ME to shift decisively the Shiite way. The Sultan's about turn and the latest shocker of the Saudi King making a pilgrimage to Moscow and seeking S-400 ABM missiles, has sent Washington into a frenzy. The alleged reports that Bibi N almost or did cry when he met with Czar Putin ,pleading with him to stop the Iranian-Syrian-Hiz juggernaut against Israel from marching on, indicates the dramatic change which has come about in the ME.With Egypt and Libya too getting closer to Russia,abandoning their old ties with the West, a "whitewash",pun intended could be on the anvil of predominant Western influence in the ME,Gulf and N.Africa. The stakes are high in the Meditt. too with Russia seeking extra naval facilities in Egypt and Libya apart from its expanding base at Tartus in Syria.

By destabilising,and limiting Iran's influence in the region,the Yanquis hope to salvage their ties with the Sunni potentates .Iran pushed to the brink have but to options.One,to reject the West's agreement if the US tears it up,and press on regardless with its N-ambitions,or to seek a guarantee from a powerful friend to provide it with a nuclear umbrella,which would require a deeper defence agreement of some sort with Russia. It has already allowed Russian bombers to refuel on their way back from air strikes in Suria.Russia in return could obtain from Iran naval facilities in the Persian Gulf,which would really send the torpedo up the West's nether end! Hitherto,only the West had naval bases in the Gulf like the Brit. one at Bahrein and US facilities there too,with the largest base at Qatar.In fact,Iran is actually encircled by US bases as this map shows:

Qatar hosts largest US military base in MideastThe base, which boasts one of the longest runways in the Persian Gulf at 12,500 feet, is a strategically important facility that can accommodate up to 120 aircraft.In 2016, the base was used as staging ground to fly B-52 airstrikes against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. Early in the Afghanistan campaign, F-16 fighters and E-8C Joint Stars reconnaissance planes that monitor ground units were based there, along with refueling tankers.

According to a 2014 congressional research paper by Middle Eastern specialist, Christopher M. Blanchard, Qatar invested over $1 billion to construct the air base during the 1990s, despite having only a small air force of its own at the time. This in turn, "facilitated gradually deeper cooperation with US military forces."The base houses the forward headquarters of the US Air Force Central Command, Combined Air and Space Operations Center and the 379th Air Expedition Wing.The Combined Air and Space Operations Center (CAOC) oversees US military air power in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and 18 other nations, according to the Air Force.Manned by personnel from the US Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines as well as coalition partner countries, the CAOC is "the nerve center" of air campaigns across the region, according to the Air Force.

Just ck the link and see the pic of the huge CAOC (Combined Air Operations Centre) facility.

Iran needs future support to resist the US just as Assad required. I predict a further deepening of both political and military ties between Iran and Russia,esp. as the "Triumvirate" of Iran,Syria and Russia defeated the US and its Sunni/ISIS allies in Syria.

Trump threatens to rip up Iran nuclear deal unless US and allies fix 'serious flaws'Trump says he will not recertify deal but stops short of pulling out entirely

President says US participation ‘can be cancelled by me at any time’4Julian Borger in Washington, Saeed Kamali Dehghan in London and Peter Beaumont in JerusalemFriday 13 October 2017 21.44 BST First published on Friday 13 October 2017 16.45 BSTDonald Trump has threatened to terminate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal if Congress and US allies fail to amend the agreement in significant ways.

In a vituperative speech on Friday that began by listing Iran’s alleged crimes over the decades, Trump announced he would not continue to certify the agreement to Congress, but stopped short of immediately cancelling US participation in the deal.

“Based on the factual record I have put forward, I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification. We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Iran’s nuclear breakout,” Trump said at the White House.

Trump put the onus on Congress and US allies to agree to means to toughen the conditions on Iran – and to make restriction on the country’s nuclear programme permanent. He made clear that if those negotiations fail to reach a solution – which is almost certain – he would unilaterally pull the US out of the international agreement, a move likely to lead to a return to nuclear confrontation in the Middle East.

“In the event we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated,” Trump said. “It is under continuous review and our participation can be cancelled by me, as president, at any time.”

'It's become a monster': is Iran's revolutionary guard a terror group? Read moreThe president also announced he had ordered the US Treasury to impose new sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a backer of terrorist groups in the region, although the state department did not designate the IRGC as a terrorist group itself.

The international backlash to Trump’s speech was immediate. The leaders of the UK, France and Germany – also signatories of the nuclear deal – issued a statement vowing their commitment to the agreement.

The EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, insisted that the agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was working, and that no single country or leader could terminate it.

“The president of the United States has many powers, but not this one,” Mogherini told reporters in Brussels.

Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, issued a statement restating the agency’s finding that Iran was abiding by its obligations.

Within minutes of Trump’s speech, Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, went live on state television.

He said: “What we heard tonight was a repeat of the same baseless accusations and insults that we’ve heard over the past 40 years. It had nothing new; we weren’t surprised because for 40 years we’ve got used to these words. With your baseless speech you made our people more united.”

Rouhani went on: “Today, the US is more isolated than ever against the nuclear deal, [more] isolated than any other time in its plots against people of Iran.”

The Iranian president shrugged off Trump’s call for constraints on Iran’s ballistic missile programme.

“Our missile and defence activities have always been important to us for our defence, and today it’s more important,” Rouhani said. “We have always made efforts to produce weapons that we need, and from now on we will double our efforts. These weapons are for our defence and we will continue strengthening our defence capabilities.”

Trump received rapid support, meanwhile, from Israel and Saudi Arabia, who have emerged as his own major allies on the world stage.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he wanted to “congratulate President Trump for his courageous decision today” and for “boldly confront[ing] Iran’s terrorist regime”.

For European diplomats seeking to salvage the JCPOA, the days leading up to Trump’s long-awaited speech were a roller-coaster. Initially fearful that Trump could immediately trigger a possible collapse of the deal, the Europeans were buoyed when they were briefed that Trump would not call for the reimposition of sanctions by Congress.

However, in the wake of the president’s speech on Friday, the JCPOA’s survival looked tenuous.

In the speech, Trump declared: “I am directing my administration to work closely with Congress and our allies to address the deal’s many serious flaws so the Iranian regime can never threaten the world with nuclear weapons.”

He noted that congressional leaders were already drafting amendments to legislation that would include restrictions on ballistic missiles and make the curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme under the 2015 deal permanent, and to reimpose sanctions instantly if those restrictions were breached.

However, any such changes would need 60 votes in the US Senate to pass, and Democrats are high unlikely to give them their backing. Even if they did pass into law, the restrictions would represent a unilateral effort to change the accord that would not be acceptable to the other national signatories.

Hours earlier, the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson had acknowledged that it was very unlikely that the JCPOA agreement could be change, but suggested that the issue of Iran’s ballistic missile programme and the time limits on some of the nuclear constraints in the deal, could be dealt with in a separate agreement that could exist alongside the JCPOA.

Trump's tough talk on Iran could end in a big, blame-evading dodgeTrump, however, made no reference to such a way out of the looming impasse.

He appeared to go out of his way to goad Iran, even linking Tehran with al-Qaida and the attacks on US embassies in 1998. He referred to Tehran as a “fanatical regime” and a “dictatorship”. He even referred to the body of water almost universally known as the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf.

“How come a president has not yet learned the name of a famous gulf in the world, the same Persian Gulf that US vessels always pass through aimlessly?” a riled Rouhani said in his response.

“He needs to study geography, but also international law. How come an international agreement that is endorsed by a UN resolution, which is a UN document … how a US president can annul such an international document?”

The exchange of insults mirrored Trump’s continuing spat with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, adding personal animus to already tense situations on opposite sides of the world

Trump-baba is under extreme pressure from the oil lobby to pick a fight with Iran which can help create tension, and hence jack up the price. Currently there is excess oil inventory, and the oil lobbydominated by a particular ME tribe is salivating to the prospect of selling that oil at a higher price....

Karthik, I've worked in Iran in the past and follow developments there. People are not protesting against Islam but against excess interference by the Mullah's in lawmaking and their lives.

The other problem is that the nuclear deal (which might be cancelled by the US) has not brought any significant economic gain to the people yet.Unemployment among the young educated population is high, as is inflation. The Iranian budget has been badly hit by the cost of the military intervention in Syria and subsidies to Hezbollah. The elected govt probably wants to reform more (e.g. better availability of Western goods) and be less interventionist abroad, but have to bow to the wishes of hardliners and clerics.

NEW DELHI: Keen on rolling out infrastructure projects in Iran and Afghanistan, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that once Chabahar Port in Iran becomes operational, there will be no looking back as it will be a gateway to golden opportunities.As a special envoy of India, deputed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Road Transport and Shipping Minister Gadkari is in Tehran and represented India at the oath taking ceremony of President Hassan Rouhani for the second term.

chetak wrote:Rest assured that the eyeranians have their own plan for chabahar and once completed and made fully operational, India will get the usual eyeranian boot that we have become accustomed to seeing.

They have always labored under the misapprehension that the relation between eyeran and India is that akin to that master and slave and so they seek undisputed primacy in any and every deal.

If the Iranian leadership plays their card right, they would realise that there are a lot of shared interests with India. We can also potentially be an honest broker between Iran and the Arab world and Iran & US. However, the Iranians seem divided into 3 groups:- The elected & progressive leaders who want closer ties with India - The `bazaari traders' who still want to play India against other bidders and view India in transactional terms.- The (mostly) unelected Mullah hardliners, who are the kind described (above) by Chetak.

chetak wrote:Rest assured that the eyeranians have their own plan for chabahar and once completed and made fully operational, India will get the usual eyeranian boot that we have become accustomed to seeing.

They have always labored under the misapprehension that the relation between eyeran and India is that akin to that master and slave and so they seek undisputed primacy in any and every deal.

If the Iranian leadership plays their card right, they would realise that there are a lot of shared interests with India. We can also potentially be an honest broker between Iran and the Arab world and Iran & US. However, the Iranians seem divided into 3 groups:- The elected & progressive leaders who want closer ties with India - The `bazaari traders' who still want to play India against other bidders and view India in transactional terms.- The (mostly) unelected Mullah hardliners, who are the kind described (above) by Chetak.

The eyeranians carry the historic baggage of their persian lineage and how they perceived themselves then vis a vis India. They are still consumed by their Cyrus to Xerxes view of their history.

We had a lot of eyeranian "friends" during college and their collective views of India differed greatly when under the influence than when they were not. They come across as a bunch of illiterate, racist pigs who looked down on Indians.

Deans wrote:Karthik, I've worked in Iran in the past and follow developments there. People are not protesting against Islam but against excess interference by the Mullah's in lawmaking and their lives.

The other problem is that the nuclear deal (which might be cancelled by the US) has not brought any significant economic gain to the people yet.Unemployment among the young educated population is high, as is inflation. The Iranian budget has been badly hit by the cost of the military intervention in Syria and subsidies to Hezbollah. The elected govt probably wants to reform more (e.g. better availability of Western goods) and be less interventionist abroad, but have to bow to the wishes of hardliners and clerics.

Saeed Ghasseminejad‏Verified account @SGhasseminejadFollow Follow @SGhasseminejadMore Saeed Ghasseminejad Retweeted کچل موفرفریProtestors in Iran: "We are Aryans! We don't worship the Arab [God]"This is not the first time people have used this anti-Islam slogan. The Islamist regime has given birth to strong anti-Islam sentiments in Iran.

Iran is in turmoil. Protests since yesterday against a corrupt regime, joblessness above all imposed sharia is tearing the country apart. Citizens are clashing with police who are deserting police posts in suburban areas. In a country where secret police and state hold vice like grip, developments like these have left ME stunned. Qatar is pretty worried for it depends on Iran at the moment in case a war breaks out against Saudi. Nationals of Iran are asking regime to stop funding shia militia here and there and start investing in their own country. Girls are taking off hijab and showing their faces.

The Iranians are a few hundred years late with that declaration, and not fully correct. The god may have been arab, but it was nourished by the Persians starting with the second caliphate, the capital shift to Baghdad, the autonomy of the viziers, the ready made civilizational trappings , so lacking in the desert cult, with their vast array of literature and philosophy. Modern day islam is not just the invention of the arabs alone, the Persians moulded it in many ways, and the turks who adopted everything Persian in custom and everything arab in religion influenced it as well.The Iranians have such a large amount of soft power because they straddle both worlds of islam and zorastrianism, the latter for the civilizational structure that is still in place across swathes of ME, but it cannot compensate if the prime force of islam is driven out.Basically, if a religion allows for people to coexist without being racist or enlightened POS's or murderous fu*kheads, then people can pray to a guy in the sky or to yoda's twisted co*k. (Un)fortunately, religion is the projection of a civilization that is codified and followed as tenets, religion can only give you an added impetus to be a di*k, it increases not induces personal and ultimately civilizational/societal beliefs inherent within a person. So, while any attempt to reintroduce agni to iran should be lauded, it must be borne in mind that their present society is not synonymous with the ancient times, and thus any religion re-introduction would be of grafting sensibilities on a society that is not used to such line of thought, it may even end up birthing newer monsters. This is not new for the Persians, they after all divided the world in black and white and changed it forever.

this did cross my mind if these protests are backed by US/Israel/Saudi. Even a srtictly state controlled regime has potential to throw up surprises!

Kindly recallyesterday Jordan King has banished brothers into jail for secretly hobnobbing with Saudi King.Jordan is training ground for Hezbollah.According to CIA estimates Iran invests $5 million annually into Hezbollah. Qatar is quite freaked out and has maintained raio silence on developments.

Even Saudi has a totalitarian regime and we have seen protest via secretly filmed video in Shia Dominated Oil Rich Areas most are brutally suppressed none of these Western MSM every put that in news or post videos openly available on U tube.

While this protest in iran gets immediate front page attention on BBC , ZNN etc and Trump has his first tweet on this .... The idea is to garner more aye balls on the protest and its partly staged managed by Western Intel

OTOH, how will Iran's weakening if at all affect India, Iran was there as kind of a check on KSA. If Iran's influence goes down, KSA will have no threat at all. Is having a somewhat strong Iran to keep a check on KSA in India's interest?

Donald J. Trump‏twitterMany reports of peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with regime’s corruption & its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad. Iranian govt should respect their people’s rights, including right to express themselves. The world is watching! #IranProtests

Sohrab Ahmari‏Verified account

Don’t buy the claim that #iranprotests are “scattered”: 10,000 came out in Mashhad, my sources say. In Mashhad—a conservative and pious city—that’s huge!And these people aren’t braving a mild autocrat like Mubarak in Egypt. This is a regime that uses rape and acid attacks.

isn't this the last of the arab spring revolution countries started during ombaba presidency.some say this plan was etched during gulf war dethroning saddam to keep ME in turmoil.All 6 countries accounted for- Iraq Libya Egypt Syria Tunisia(not sure). only Iran escaped.

could this be the last one- a huge and a major one if it occurs.------------------------------------------------major Islamic fissure will occur if shitte radicals get neutralised.Iran has most of the islams Shiite population.sunni will gain upper hand.

https://twitter.com/ScottPresler/status ... 5347698688women in Iran are taking hijab off and posting selfies in protest. Internet is completely shut down including telephone lines. Protesters are attacking governor's house all over as they tend to be associated with police and revolutionary guards!

Russia is also rattled and shut down many telegram channels sympathetic to protesters.

Women in Iran are highly educated. They are involved in the workforce, arguably more so than any other country in the Middle East, and they are continually suppressed. This is part of their fight to gain their freedom and their rights," he says.

It has since become a major force in the political, economic and military life of the country, with its own ground forces, navy and air force. It controls a volunteer militia of tens of thousands of people - the Basij Resistance Force.

The IRGC sometimes works alongside police, and it was announced in December that it would do this again.

Its stature says it will co-operate with law enforcement forces "when necessary" but there has been some controversy over its scope when dealing with civilians.

When there was protest in Bharain , GCC moved their armoured column inside Bharain to supress the protesters with active blessing from US and now Trump is tweeting world is watching , what a double standard by US.

It is better they shut off all the internet and telephones and supress the protesters , CIA must have penetrated well to organise such large scale protest